Thursday, December 6, 2012

Local civic and business leaders in Rotherham have welcomed the news that Tata Steel and its industry partners are to develop a new automotive proving facility, to be located in the town.

Announced last week, a consortium of industry partners has secured a multimillion pound grant to create an advanced manufacturing "proving factory" in Rotherham to develop the mass production of new low carbon technologies.

Led by industry experts, Productiv Limited, and working closely with Tata Steel and other automotive manufacturers and technology developers, the facility will enable new technologies to be tested and developed, prior to their potential use in the mass production of future vehicles.

The successful bid is from Round 1 of the Government's £125m Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI) that aims to strengthen manufacturing supply chain projects across key sectors such as the automotive, aerospace and chemical industries.

Mark Broxholme, managing director of Tata Steel's speciality steels business, said: "We are delighted to play a major role in this exciting collaborative project that together with other technology partners, government and business will enable new low carbon technologies used in the next generation of hybrid and electric vehicles to become a reality and get into production here in the UK.

"We are a company that works within the automotive industry and we've partnered with Productiv to help improve manufacturing processes, industrialise emerging green technologies and speed up their introduction into the UK automotive supply chain."

Councillor Roger Stone, Leader of Rotherham Council, added: "It is good to see that another industry-leading research centre will be located in Rotherham.

"With the world-class facilities we already have at the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP), demonstrating expertise in advanced manufacturing industries such as aerospace and power generation, the addition of this automotive proving facility further strengths our claim to be the centre of the UK's advanced manufacturing heartland."

James Newman, Chairman of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, said: "I would like to congratulate the Productiv led team on securing funding from the Government's Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative.

"The new proving factory will join our growing community of advanced manufacturing researchers in the Sheffield City Region and will help to boost further growth in the industry.

"As the Sheffield City Region continues to strengthen its reputation as a global centre for modern manufacturing and technology, I hope to see more City Region initiatives of this ambition gain Government support in the future."